MAYBE this is the game that ultimately saves Tom Coughlin, and buries the 1-4 Jets. The game when everyone remembers how the old-school head coach, true to principles forever loved by Wellington Mara, even as the lame-duck coach of the Giants, calls the No. 1 draft choice from Texas to his office yesterday morning and tells him he won’t be playing for the first half of the Battle of New York because he violated a team rule.

And maybe cornerback Aaron Ross will be remembered as the kid who saved Coughlin.

There were all kinds of reasons for Giants 35, Jets 24. On the Giants side, Eli Manning bringing his team back in the second half and Plaxico Burress stiff-arming Andre Dyson all the way back to Weeb Ewbank Hall on a 53-yard TD romp down the sidelines that gave the Giants the lead midway through the fourth quarter. On the Jets side, it was another fourth-quarter nightmare from Chad Pennington (2 of his 3 INTs), that will inevitably prompt premature howls for Kellen Clemens. The New York Frick and Frac Exchange pass rush on Manning, and an offense that has no chance if Thomas Jones cannot run effectively (13-36) since the quarterback can’t scare anyone deep.

But first and foremost, thank Aaron.

“Down the road,” Coughlin said, “that will be the best thing that will happen for Aaron.”

Down the road, Ross’ two fourth-quarter interceptions might prove to be the best thing that will happen for Coughlin, whose 3-2 Giants have no reason not to be 6-2 at the break after games against the Falcons, 49ers and Dolphins.

He returned the second one 43 yards for a touchdown at a time when Pennington, from his 39, was threatening to move against a Munch Bunch that had yet to feast on him and finished with one sack, or 11 fewer than a week ago, and crown themselves kings of the city.

The clock read 3:28 when Pennington, second-and-5, looked for Jerricho Cotchery short to his right.

Game over.

“Once I saw that [bunch] formation and the receiver run that out route, I was able to break on it,” Ross said.

Ross thought back an interception for a touchdown last season against Kansas and said, smiling. “I hadn’t had the ball in my hands in almost a year now, so it felt real good,” he said.

It felt so good he slowed down and leapt/pranced over the goalline while holding the ball aloft. “That was my Superman,” Ross said. Huh? “That’s a song I like listening to,” he said, and chuckled.

Coughlin was waiting for him on the sideline.

“Great job,” Coughlin said.

“Thank you, coach,” Ross said. Then he added: “We hugged each other, and that was it.”

Ross’ first NFL pick came on a grievous Pennington underthrow from the Giant 23 for Cotchery at the 2 early in the fourth quarter when the Jets were trying to take a 31-21 lead. Ross left Coles to help Sam Madison.

“It was like a picture-perfect play,” Ross said.

When he called him on the carpet, Coughlin did not tell Ross exactly how long he would sit behind Corey Webster. Ross fell silent.

“I knew I had to just stay ready to play; I have to man up to my mistake,” he said.

His teammates encouraged him. “We were all tapping him on the back, telling him, ‘Make sure you don’t get down on yourself,’ ” Antonio Pierce said.

“You could see he’s played in big games before,” Michael Strahan said. “He’s not fazed out there.”

Neither Coughlin nor Ross would speak to his indiscretion.

“It’ll never happen again,” Ross said. “Lesson learned.”

Lesson taught. “You have to let the coach handle it the way he wants to handle it,” John Mara said. “[GM] Jerry Reese called me this morning to let me know what was going on, and I said, ‘Well we gotta support the coach,’ and that’s the way he chose to handle it. If he had chosen to bench him for the game, that would have been his prerogative.” Then Mara let out a big laugh and said: “I’m glad he didn’t bench him for the game!”